Tree of Life
by Phoenixwillfly
Summary: When a family friend dies, a secret map is discovered that leads the Garden of Eden. When the friend's greedy nephew embarks on a journey to find the tree of life, Lara must stop him and save the world's fate yet again.


**TOMB RAIDER:**

_The Tree of Life_

**AN:**

**Friendly Reminder:** I do not own Tomb Raider. So please do not sue me. I'd be sad. 

This is my new Fan Fiction. Tomb Raider is rather awesome, I must admit. I must say that I used a few scriptures from the bible in writing this intro. Don't worry, this isn't going to be a "god" thing, so if any of you are afraid of that, please don't even worry about that being a factor. It was only for the intro. I hope you enjoy!

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**Prologue:**

Finding the Dead Lake

There was no sun upon the dead lake. Just an eternal fire burning in the sky, but everything around it was black. The darkness was eerily calm, and it seemed to go on forever. There was nothing but silence, an endless silence, not even a soft breeze could be heard. Two trees stretched over the small lake, both seemingly dead. There was no vegetation, just hard rock, hidden by piles of blackened bones and ash. The ebony trees stood on either side of the lake, their branches outstretched over the body of water, almost touching each other. They glistened as a dark red liquid slithered down the twisted, deathly bark. It was blood. The blood seeped down into the porous rock, not a drop straying from the trees themselves. 

_Thus god made to grow out of the ground every tree desirable to one's sight and good for food and also the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad._

Blood fell from his face as he fell upon his knees. He had waited his whole existence to find this place, and nothing would prevent him from reaching those trees. He wiped the blood and sweat from his forehead and pushed himself up from the hard ground. He reached into his bag greedily, pulling out a small tape recorder. 

"I've found it, Betsy, I've really found it," he whispered "The trees are _beautiful_" He could barely talk, but he must record this. 

_"Here the man has become like one of us in knowing good and bad, and now in order that he may not put his hand out and actually take [fruit] also from the tree of life and eat and live to time indefinite--"_

He stumbled towards the lake, swiftly climbing over the rock masses in his way. He wouldn't allow anything get in the way of the precious things he had found. Ignoring the piles of bones, he continued forward until he found himself at the lake itself. He fell to his knees yet again, but this time it wasn't because he was tired. He smiled, looking up at the first tree that stood before him. He reached into his bag again, slowly this time, and pulled out a thermos. Twisting the cap off he scooped some water out of the lake, watching the water ripple as he did. 

Raising the thermos in the air he shouted, "This is to you, god, and this major accomplishment you have given me to share with the world," he smiled sincerely at the dark sky, and drank from the thermos. No sooner than he let the cool liquid touch his lips, he spit out. It was blood. He dropped the thermos and stood up quickly, looking up into the tree. He wiped the blood from his lips, and eased his way up to it. 

"Where is it?" he whispered aloud, looking around the tree. It wasn't long before he dropped the backpack, and began to hug the base of the tree. "Maybe if I climb it, I can get a better look," he grunted, as he began to claw his way up it. He closed his eyes as he climbed, trying to ignore the fact that he was being covered in the tree's blood. He continued to climb, reaching one branch, and then another, still feeling the oozing fluid from the tree. 

_With that God put him out of the Garden of Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken._

As he climbed, something behind him started to form. A single flame in the darkness, gradually growing, and becoming brighter. It became longer, and at one end, it became a sharp tip. He hadn't noticed it, but it had noticed him. It raised itself into the air, the flames still becoming bigger. It followed him, inching with every move of his body. 

He felt a chill go up his spine, but ignored it. "It's over, finally, my search is over, I'll win the Nobel prize for this one, _god_ Victor, you've done so well," he smiled as he reached for one last limb. He stopped. Something warm was near him, all his training had taught him that some animals give off a certain amount of heat when they're a specific distance from their prey. From the heat patterns, he knew it was a lion behind him. Slowly, he reached down into his boot and took out a large hunting knife. He would stand still for the next five seconds, and then strike the beast in the eye with the knife. He swung around swiftly, throwing the knife into the air, but there was nothing behind him. Still, something didn't seem right, and it wasn't until he felt the excruciating pain did he understand what was wrong. He looked down to see himself being ripped apart by flames. His scream was piercing, neither manly nor like a woman's, but terrible enough to wake even the deepest of sleepers. Then the scream died out, and in the tree, the man's torso did stay, his arms outstretched, _reaching._

_And so he drove the man out and posted at the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning itself continually to guard the way to the tree of life._

He was reaching into the eternal darkness.


End file.
